M76 bolt-carrier arrived yesterday and wouldnt you know it, it needs some fitting. Its slightly longer(.019) from front of bolt to rear of locking lugs, causing it to interfere with the breech end of the bbl. Gonna pull the durn bbl and dress it down the required amount and address headspace when I get the bbl back in. O well...

I decided that moving the bbl forward would give too much headspace. Then it hit me. Why not take metal from the front of the bolt? Thats where the difference is. So thats what I did. Works great, headspace is good, altho just a smidge tight,but everything works. Cycles fine. When I say tight I mean I can feel just a little resistance when the bolt rotates in with a go gauge in place. I need some range time. Damn job gets in the way sometimes.

now for someone setting this up with the 76 to start with you could just set the barrel and pin it....

Not the bolt face but the front of the bolt,or the front of the lugs and lower lug(not sure what that is called,its the lug that strips the cartridge from the mag). Now I call the bolt face the part of the bolt that the cartridge head rests against while in battery.